


a rat-tat-tat on my heart

by cinderlily



Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, next season
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 06:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9421934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderlily/pseuds/cinderlily
Summary: They get rained out in Baltimore and Ginny has full on plans to chill out and watch some HGTV... until Mike shows up at her door and steals her away for an afternoon.





	

The second game of a three-game series and they got rained out in Baltimore. It wasn’t completely uncommon, but as it had been an afternoon game it left them with a lot of time and nothing to do. Some of the guys decided to do some good old day drinking but Ginny, who hadn’t been pitching and was not in the mood to handle a group of guys being idiots, decided to turn them down. She’d been stressed and tired for the whole road trip. She needed a break. 

She claimed to be watching tape, but instead switched on HGTV. It was kind of her obsession. She’d bought a small house in San Diego, which cost more than she ever thought she’d pay for 1500 square feet, and she’d become obsessed with the idea of making it her own. She hadn’t actually _done_ anything with it, but she _thought_ about it a lot. 

She was in the middle of a Property Brothers’ episode when there was a knock on her hotel room door. She frowned and muted the TV before she crossed over the small room and opened the door to find Mike. 

“Oh good, you’re dressed,” he said. 

She quirked her eyebrow. “Way to make a lady feel good.” 

“Shut up, Baker,” he rolled his eyes. “Grab some shoes, we’re going out.” 

“I told the guys before, I don’t want to go out,” she said. “I’m watching tape of the Yankees.” 

Mike looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Well the Yankees are currently making some awful life choices about a kitchen, so…” 

She turned around. Damn it, there was a mirror placed to just show off the TV. She frowned. “I don’t want to go drinking, Lawson.” 

“Me neither,” he said. And that was genuinely a little weird. He was generally one of the first to jump on the chance. But this season had felt a little different. Maybe it was the fact that it was the last on his contract and the chance of him being re-signed was small at best but either way. He’d been different. 

Shrugging, she grabbed her shoes and slid them on, grabbing a jacket and the key to the room right by the front door. 

“Lead the way, I guess.” 

“That’s the spirit,” he mused. 

They walked down the hallway and got on the elevator in silence. They made it to the lobby and the doors opened and still nothing. She wondered what the hell was up with him but that wasn’t the way to phrase it. 

“So… any particular thing we’re doing or…” 

“How’s your arm feeling?”

She shifted her shoulder back, like she was taught to do and let out a hum. “Fine. Are you seriously taking me to _batting_ practice?” 

“Nope.” 

He was purposefully walking faster than her, so she widened her strides and tried to keep up if not completely smoke him. They got out front and there was a line of cars. He smiled at the guy in front of the first one and said something quietly to him before he got a nod. 

The driver opened the door and let her in. As soon as Mike slid in behind her she paused and gave him a look. 

“If this is where I find out you’re a serial murder I am going to be really unimpressed.” 

Mike rolled his eyes. “Hahaha. Surprises, Baker. They’re supposed to be fun. You do know what _fun_ is right?” 

“That’s rich coming from you, but yes, I do know what fun is. Surprisingly it doesn’t include having no idea what I’m doing and getting blindly into a car in the middle of a city I don’t know.” 

“Relax, Rookie, I’ll keep the big bad people away from you,” he teased. 

She shook her head and smirked. “I’ll keep them away from you, _Old Man_ , as you seem to have forgotten your cane for self defense.” 

He put a hand to his chest. “Oh you wound me.” 

The driver, David, was actually really awesome, driving them around the city and showing some of the better sites. Even with the sheets of water around them they could see the outlines and the statues and it was actually nice. Rarely did they get a chance to actually see the cities they were in, beyond food and sometimes the biggest places. It was nice to see the little places a bit. 

They made it slightly out of the city and into an area that looked open and suburban. She looked over at Mike who just shrugged and smiled, like he didn’t know exactly where they were going. She was waiting for the penny to drop, maybe a sign that said, “REALLY COOL THING TO YOUR LEFT” but it was just… a suburb that she didn’t even catch it’s name. 

Until David stopped in front of a small strip mall with about a dozen storefronts and turned around. “Here we are.” 

“Awesome,” Mike grinned, grabbing his wallet and a wad of cash. “This is all yours. Can I grab your card and maybe get you to come pick us up in a while?” 

David looked down at the wad of cash that was _way_ more than the total bill and nodded, handing over a card. “Uh, yes. Yes sir.” 

“It’s Mike,” he smiled. “See you later?” 

“You will.” 

David got out of the car and opened the door opposite to where they’d gotten in, the one closer to cover and Ginny lifted her jacket up and put it over her head till she made it to an awning. Mike was just behind her. She pulled down the hood and shook her head like a dog getting the water off it’s back. 

“Now you going to tell me what we’re doing?” she said, loudly to get over the rain. 

He pointed up to a sign that read, ‘Stop and Go-Go Putt Putt’. 

She looked at the sign and then at him and then back at the sign. 

“PUTT PUTT GOLF?” 

He put up a pointer finger. “INDOOR putt putt golf.” 

She laughed and pushed herself up onto her toes. “Are you KIDDING me, Lawson?” 

“It was the best rated. There was one closer to the hotel but the words ‘unclean’ were used way too many times in the Yelp reviews…” he shuddered. “So I decided we could journey. Plus there is a burger place that is apparently really good right down in the corner.” 

She laughed. “You dork. This is AWESOME.” 

“Eh,” Mike shrugged, but the smirk gave him away. “Something to do.” 

“Let’s go,” she said, taking his arm and dragging him into the place. She hadn’t been putt putt golfing in probably a decade. Hadn’t even been regular golfing in a year, due to last season’s injury.

The inside was exactly as she expected it to be. Large and echoey and completely horrible gaudy. She laughed at the sight of the giant clown in the corner, wondering if she should tease Mike about it. It was one of the few things she’d remembered from right after the surgery, Mike rambling on and getting on the topic of clowns due to a balloon that was in her room. 

“Are you KIDDING ME?” she turned and tugged gleefully at Mike. “You are the best teammate of the week. Hands down. Maybe the month.” 

They walked up to the front desk, where a slightly bored looking guy in his late teens was staring at his phone. When he looked up at them he did a double take and then almost dropped it. He then gently put it down and looked up again. 

“Uh, can I …” he started, then paused. “Are you Ginny Baker and Mike Lawson?” 

Ginny covered her mouth to laugh as she saw in her periphery Mike go from slightly grumpy to his ‘meeting a fan’ face. 

“Yep, that’s us,” Mike smiled. “How are you?” 

“So fucking excited. My stupid brother bought tickets to the game today but knew I had work. This is GOLDEN!” The guy looked like he was going to dance around but rather he schooled himself. “… Sorry. What can I do for you?” 

Ginny stepped forward and grabbed her wallet. “Two of your finest sticks for some putt putt adventure.” 

He blinked and deflated a little. “They’re all the same.” 

“Which makes them all your finest,” she shrugged. “And a pink and purple ball please.” 

Mike turned towards her and made a face but she shrugged. 

“Mike just lives for pink. It’s his favorite color,” she deadpanned. 

The guy rang them up and grabbed the taller clubs they kept for adults, and sure enough a pink ball and a purple ball. She winked at him and he made a face akin to when one of the twins saw chocolate or when Evelyn saw Beyonce. She turned and handed Mike his club and ball and ran off to the first hole. 

“You are going to get payback, you know that right?” Mike said. “Cause that kid is going to tell the WORLD my favorite color is pink.” 

Ginny blinked at him innocently. “Is there something _wrong_ with pink? Does it make you feel like less of a man? Are you afraid of it?” 

“You know that’s not … oh … fuck it. Pink is awesome,” Mike forced a smile. “I got first go.” 

“Isn’t it ‘ladies first’?” 

Mike tilted his head up from where he was lining up his shot and winked at her. “Age before beauty, Baker.” 

They played through the eighteen holes with weirdly interesting conversation. Mostly they teased each other like it was batting practice, but with occasional moments of talking about random things. Even though they’d buried the hatchet, so to speak, before the season really began they hadn’t had nearly as much time together as they had the season previous. 

It was nice, catching up and spending time with Mike like she remembered it being. Fun and easy, not the weirdly tense time that had been after her injury. 

Even though they tried to keep score, it ended up with them in a heavy debate if they had actually remembered to count a few as the scores didn’t add up correctly. Mike decided they would call it a draw but Ginny was not having that and said that whoever got the last shot was the one who won the whole thing. 

Mike rolled his eyes and sunk it in one. It took Ginny twice to get it over the small hump that sent it down to the ball collector. She didn’t pout. 

“Come on loser, winner will get the burgers,” Mike smiled, nudging at her gently with his shoulder. She resented the use of the word ‘loser’ but she figured that the best thing, for now, would be to let it go because… well. Burger. She wasn’t even aware of how hungry she was till he said it. 

When they got to the front and handed over the clubs, the kid was still staring at them. Ginny looked at Mike and gave him a small smile, Mike seemed to read her mind and frowned. 

“Hey, what’s your name?” 

“Dylan?”

Mike raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?” 

“Dylan,” he repeated. “My name is Dylan.” 

Ginny grabbed his phone and pulled up the camera app. She leaned in towards Dylan. “Okay Dylan, smile.” 

With Mike forcing a smile in the background, she took a picture of the three of them. She was the only one who looked even a little relaxed as the other two looked either uncomfortable or shocked as hell. 

“Send that to your brother and tell him sorry it got rained out,” she said. “But next time he should make sure you can go.” 

Dylan sputtered for a second and said. “You are… fuck. I’m done with the Orioles. I’m all yours. Padres for life.” 

Ginny made a note in her head to remember the address and maybe send Dylan some SWAG. “Damn right.” 

Mike was actually smiling as they left. “You know that kid is going to be telling people he made out with you, right?” 

“Doubtful,” she said. “I saw the background of his phone and unless his boyfriend is _very forgiving_ he would be losing a lot for a non-existent kiss.” 

It’d stopped raining, blessedly. It was still overcast, and cold as all get-out, but they could walk down the sidewalk without having to worry about getting soaked. She was smiling even though she knew no one was watching, and she felt so much better than she had in weeks. 

“Thanks,” she turned to Mike. 

Mike kept his eyes forward. “For what?” 

“For this,” she said. “I think I forget that mid-season mental slumps can be killer. I’ve been going through the motions a lot. I’ve not had this kind of fun in forever.” 

“You’re welcome, Ro— Ginny.” 

She smiled at him. “I get Ginny now? Well then. Lead the way, _Mike_.” 

The burger place really was a straight shot down to the corner of the shopping center. Small, hole in the wall, and as soon as the door opened she knew she was going to love it. For one thing, it smelled absolutely amazing in every single way, and for another it had kitschy crap all over the walls. 

A childhood of road trips to games and tourneys had taught her to appreciate the glory of these type of places. She used to spend almost the whole time eating and staring at everything she could find. Sometimes they were sports themed, sometimes road tripped themed, but this one? It seemed to have no theme beyond _glitter_. 

They seated themselves and a nice lady in a pink old fashioned diner outfit came out to take their order. By silent agreement they said ‘fuck it’ to the rules of food, knowing that the amount of beer the other guys were probably having would smoke the hell out of a good burger, fries and a soda. They ordered a crazy amount of food. 

“You know, we do have a half a season left, right?” Ginny mused, a few bites into their appetizer of chili cheese fries. 

Mike, mid bite, looked at her. “So?”

She laughed at the way part of a fry was still hanging out of his mouth. “I see your point. I also see chili in your beard. Good look, Mike.” 

“Where?” He desperately wiped at his face but kept missing it. Taking pity on him she picked up a napkin and wiped at the small spot a few inches to the left of his lips. “You are beauty and grace, Mike Lawson.” 

He gave her a look. “Well, you know, we can’t all eat like you, Ms. Manners.” 

She smiled beatifically at him, knowing full well she was probably covered in food. In her family it was the rules of the game, it was either the quick or the hungry. He waited a second and took a napkin to reciprocate, only this time he was touching half of her face. She felt his fingertips and figured that blushing was a stupid thing to do with all her bravado but couldn’t help herself. 

He stopped and put the napkin down, looking at it for a long while, like it had some meaning in it. 

“What, did I dip my face in the sauce?” she tried to break the tension. 

He looked up at her, face frozen in fake fan smile. “Naw, just figured payback is fun.” 

“Mike..?” 

The lady stopped her from asking what the hell was that about, coming with a guy behind her and two full platters of food. They might have gone a little overboard. She looked at the mass of things in front of her, milkshakes and burgers and fried things she wouldn’t allow herself in months. 

“You guys must be hungry,” she smiled. “I’ll get you some refills, let me know if you enjoy it.”

And then they were alone again, the moment to ask about the fake smile long gone. At least Mike looked far more relaxed by the time she was taking her first bite of her burger. She moaned around the first bite. 

“This is unfair,” she said, taking another bite and making a satisfied. “How is this all the way across the country from us?” 

Mike seemed to be looking at her and didn’t answer her. He breathed in and exhaled and she finally put a hand out in front of him. 

“You in nirvana? What’s going on?” 

“Yeah,” he stuttered. “It’s — good. Really good.” 

She smiled, taking another chili fry and a sip of her soda. “Where the hell did you find this? Has someone been an Oriole?” 

“Oh,” Mike said, looking away. “I don’t know, actually. I didn’t ask the guys. I asked the guy at the front desk.” 

“For what? An orgasm burger?” 

Mike choked on his bite, stopping to swallow some water. “No. For the Putt Putt place. But…the burger place was a nice bonus.” 

“You know what, it’s actually a good thing this isn’t near me. Can you imagine being able to eat here on the daily? They’d roll me onto the mound. It would be like sixth grade all over again.” 

“Sixth grade?” Mike raised an eyebrow. 

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Hormones hit. I had braces and gained like fifteen pounds in less than a month. It was not pretty, to say the least. Stupid hormones. Thankfully seventh grade I grew three inches over one summer and it all evened out. But let’s just say nicknames are not fun.” 

“Sophomore year of high school,” he said ruefully. “I chunked up over the summer. They called me Mike AND Ike.” 

She held a hand up to her face, willing herself not to laugh. “That is not funny.” 

“You can laugh,” Mike said, putting his hand out. 

She let the giggles she was holding back escape. 

“I ended up growing a few inches and worked out more. By the end of sophomore year there was no more Ike and all was how it should be.” 

“You mean, the girls adoring you and the boys wanting to be you,” she batted her eyes dramatically. 

Mike smiled. “Exactly.” 

“To outgrowing the awkward phase,” Ginny picked up her glass and Mike lifted his. They clinked them together and took sips. 

“Amen.” 

They both went silent except for satisfied noises of food filling their bellies She was happy and warm and content and it was nice. To just be there with him. She wanted to say something but couldn’t figure out how to say it without it coming out all wrong so she just soaked it up. Let every moment that passed be a memory she could cherish later, just in case. 

The check came and Mike, as he insisted, paid for it. He also pulled out the number for David, the driver, and smiled before he ended the call. 

“It might be a while.” 

She tilted her head. “Want to walk around?” 

“Read my mind.” 

“It’s usually the other way around,” she teased. 

It wasn’t like they were near a park or even in that big of a strip mall, but after the amount of food ingested she had the ingrained urge to burn off some of her calories. They’d started at one side, so they aimed instead for the other side. Passing by small storefronts that were empty or stores that seemed to be stuck in the early 80’s. 

“This has been good,” Ginny blurted out, finally, into the silence. 

Mike gave her a look. “Good?” 

“I don’t think I’d realized how lonely I’ve been lately…” she said and realized the depth of that truth. She swallowed. “I mean. Blip is … you know. And Duartes is nice to talk to but kind of an ass. And you’ve been… distant. So I’ve been spending more and more time by myself.” 

“I’m sorry,” Mike said softly. 

Ginny jumped in before he could continue. “No, no. I mean, you have your own stuff going on and I get that. I totally do. I just. Forget what it’s like to be completely on your own. I’m used to _people_ , all the time. Amelia, you, my brother, Evelyn, Blip… Hell this time last year I would have killed for time to myself. I just. Got used to it?”

“Well, you don’t have to be alone if you don’t want to,” Mike said. “You know my room number. We could even watch Chick flicks if you want…” 

Ginny glared. “Are you kidding me? You remember I caught you watching ‘The Philadelphia Story’, right?” 

“That is a cinematic _classic_ ,” Mike pointed at her. “And Katharine Hepburn was a fox in her heyday, so don’t even start with me on that.” 

“Well, I am more likely to be watching game tape or HGTV lately, so you’d have to deal with that.” 

Mike smiled. “I could handle some. No Property Brothers though, I never agree with the shorter one…”

“They are twins… but I think you mean Drew,” she laughed. “And I don’t even watch for the style but just like… ideas. How do you make a place look less like a condo and more like a home?” 

“You’re asking the last person on earth to ask,” he put his hands up. “My house looks like something from ‘No One Lives Here’ magazine because I let some hot decorator I found make all my decisions.” 

Ginny sighed. “Do you always have to say if a girl is hot or not?” 

“How do you know it was a lady?” Mike raised an eyebrow. 

“Now that would make an interesting twist,” Ginny hummed. “Right at bat, but still bats both ways…” 

Mike shrugged, pausing and looking away. “Doesn’t matter, I’m kind of done with the sleeping around thing. Gender irrelevant.” 

Ginny’s stomach did a weird twist, which was kind of uncomfortable with the amount of food in it. She looked at him, he was very dedicatedly looking _away_ but she tried to read the side of the face that she could actually see. It gave away nothing. 

“Everything okay?” she asked, after debating teasing him. He turned towards her and looked… well. Not quite nervous, but just extremely thoughtful. There was a ridge between his eyebrows that she had to fight the urge not to take her thumb and smooth down. 

They’d hit the end of the row and they turned around to walk back. 

“Do you… think about it?” 

Ginny wasn’t dumb. She knew exactly what ‘it’ he was talking about. There was a big fat ‘it’ between them that felt like a chasm that was uncrossable. To say she didn’t think about it would be a total lie, but she had taught herself to think less of it. As it was something they didn’t talk about. Until they were in a random diner in a suburb of Baltimore. 

“Yeah, of course, I think about it,” she said softly. 

The back of his hand brushed hers and she wondered if that was on purpose or not. She thought probably it was, but who knew anything anymore. “Everything would have been different. If I hadn’t answered that damn call.” 

Her bigger fear was something different. “What if they had traded you to Chicago?” 

“What if I hadn’t been stupidly jealous of you and Duartes and overreacted on a bad day? Then the trade wouldn’t have even been on the damn table.” 

Ginny stumbled, literally, Mike put his hand out. She turned, once she’d steadied herself. “You were jealous of DUARTES?” 

Mike’s face, what she could see of it, was bright red. “Shut up, Ginny.” 

“Duartes? _Duartes_? Cocky jackass who ‘doesn’t need to know the line up’… _Duartes_?”

“It was a bad day,” Mike snapped. “I didn’t know what I wanted anymore. On any level. And then it was the two of you, and I was just… done. I guess.” 

They passed the burger place, and Ginny looked in to see the lady wave in at them. She felt kind of like she was in a parallel universe. That there was some wormhole in the middle of nowhere Maryland and she had stepped into it. She looked at Mike, who was not looking at her, didn’t see the lady. She wondered if he felt as tripped up by this. 

“Well, even without my player rule he wouldn’t be in the top one hundred,” she said. 

Mike let out a noise. “Ah, yeah. The pesky player rule.” 

She hesitated, slightly. “Did I say rule? Cause I meant more of a guideline…” 

Mike stopped dead in his tracks. They were probably twenty steps from the Putt Putt place, in front of an empty store front. “A guideline?” 

“Yeah,” she whispered, because somehow the breath had left her chest. Her whole body was acutely aware of the fact that they had gotten closer and close as they walked down the the concrete path. She was feeling stupid and lightheaded and pretty sure that the whole thing was a dream but she was completely okay with that. 

He gave her a sly smile. “I like guidelines.” 

“Mike…” she lifted herself slightly on her toes and…

A freaking car honked. She turned to see David’s car. He rolled down one of the windows and put his hand out to wave at them. 

“YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME,” Mike bellowed towards the sky. 

She laughed, because how could she not, and held her hand up at the window. She got back up on her toes and took the back of his head into her hand and brought his face back down to her lips. She kissed him softly, nipping at his lower lip and then again much harder. 

When she pulled back Mike was giving her a look that she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do with in the middle of a parking lot. 

“Car is a good thing, Mike,” she said against his lips. “Car brings us to the hotel.” 

He huffed out a laugh and she felt the hair on her face. “I like the way you think, Baker.” 

“I’ve been told I’m pretty smart when I want to be.” 

His hand slid into hers and he pulled her softly towards the car. David opened the door and Mike let her slip in first, following close behind. She buckled up and nuzzled up as close as she thought she could get away with without seeming completely obvious about everything, even if the guy had just seen them kiss.

“Did you have a good game?” David asked when he got back into the front seat, seeming a bit uncomfortable. 

Ginny beamed at him. “The best. It was a long time coming.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write 'golf' fic since the moment they showed MPG practicing his swing. But this is what came of it. 
> 
> Title from La La Land
> 
> "I don't care if I know  
> Just where I will go  
> 'Cause all that I need is this crazy feeling  
> A rat-tat-tat on my heart
> 
> Think I want it to stay"


End file.
